North Carolina
Clemson
Carolina Tennis Enjoys Senior Day With Victory Over Clemson
April 13, 2008 | Men's Tennis
April 13, 2008
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The No. 11-ranked University of North Carolina men's tennis team celebrated Senior Day at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center Sunday afternoon with a 7-0 victory over the Clemson Tigers. Prior to the match, UNC's eight-man senior class of Benjamin Carlotti, Lenny Gullan, David Stone, Will Plyler, Tristan Heinrich, Karl Wishart, Jeff Schroeder and Sandeep Daiya were honored for their contributions to UNC tennis.
This senior class has many accomplishments to its credit. Sunday's win clinched the No. 2 seed in the ACC Tournament for the second straight year for the Tar Heels and it marked the second successive season with nine ACC regular-season wins, the school record for conference wins in a season. The senior class finished its career with a home record of 56-8. They also played on teams that in 2006 and 2007 were the last unbeaten teams in the nation in dual matches before those squads fell for the first time in late-season encounters.
"This group of seniors has accomplished so much on and off the court," says UNC head coach Sam Paul. "From the very first day they've given everything they've got to the program. They gave their hearts and souls to the program. The spirit of the program, the work ethic, the determination and the striving for excellence in everything they do will be a hallmark of this senior class. The entire class has a cumulative grade point average of well above 3.0 as they look forward to graduation next month, led by Morehead-Cain Scholar Tristan Heinrich, who is a Phi Beta Kappa at the University."
The match also marked the final regular-season ACC match for Clemson head coach Chuck Kriese, who has led the Tigers to some of the greatest moments in the history of ACC tennis since he took over as Clemson head coach in 1975. Kriese is retiring at the end of this season. Kriese led Clemson to nine ACC Tournament championships and he is the winningest ACC coach in history in dual match victories.
The match opened with the Tar Heels winning the doubles point to go up 1-0. No. 10-ranked Chris Kearney and Taylor Fogleman of UNC were the first off the court after beating Ike Belk and Rob Bizjak at No. 1 doubles 8-5. At No. 3 doubles, senior Lenny Gullan and Andrew Crone played together for the first time this season. They trailed 5-2 early in the match, but rallied to even the match at five apiece before eventually falling 8-6. The doubles point then came down to the No. 2 spot where No. 42-ranked Clay Donato and Stefan Hardy downed Carlos Alvarez and Kevin Fleck 8-6. Hardy and Donato also had to rally from a 5-2 deficit in doubles to win six of the last seven games and clinch the point for UNC.
Attention then turned to the singles courts where No. 83-ranked Chris Kearney defeated Rob Bizjak 6-1, 6-1 at the No. 3 spot in the lineup. Taylor Fogleman was the next winner as he defeated Kevin Fleck 6-2, 6-3 at the No. 5 singles spot. The Tar Heels then clinched the match as No. 73-ranked Stefan Hardy outlasted Ike Belk 7-5, 7-6 (4) at the No. 2 position.
UNC then upped its lead to 5-0 as senior Benjamin Carlotti enjoyed his Senior Day appearance in a big way by beating Carlos Alvarez of the Tigers 6-4, 6-3 at the No. 1 position. At No. 4 singles, Clay Donato improved to 13-3 in dual matches this spring with a come-from-behind victory over No. 122-ranked Gera Boryachinskly 3-6, 7-6 (1), 6-0. Senior Will Plyler then appropriately capped off the day with another win by a fourth-year Tar Heel as he defeated Kevin Galloway, 6-3, 7-6 (4).
It was UNC's fourth straight win over the Tigers, improving UNC to 42-23 all-time versus Clemson, including a 19-9 advantage since 1990.
Final Score: No. 11 North Carolina 7, Clemson 0
Doubles (Team winning majority of matches claims one team point)
#1 No. 10 Taylor Fogleman and Chris Kearney (UNC) d. Ike Belk and Rob Bizjak (CU), 8-5
#2 No. 42 Stefan Hardy and Clay Donato (UNC) d. Carlos Alvarez and Kevin Fleck (CU), 8-6
#3 Gera Boryachinskly and Kevin Galloway (CU) d. Andrew Crone and Lenny Gullan (UNC), 8-6
Order of Finish: #1, #3, #2*
*Clinched Point
Singles (One team point for each singles match)
#1 Benjamin Carlotti (UNC) d. Carlos Alvarez (CU), 6-4, 6-3
#2 No. 73 Stefan Hardy (UNC) d. Ike Belk (CU), 7-5, 7-6 (4)
#3 No. 83 Chris Kearney (UNC) d. Rob Bizjak (CU), 6-1, 6-1
#4 Clay Donato (UNC) d. No. 122 Gera Boryachinskly (CU), 3-6, 7-6 (1), 6-0
#5 Taylor Fogleman (UNC) d. Kevin Fleck (CU), 6-2, 6-3
#6 Will Plyler (UNC) d. Kevin Galloway (CU), 6-3, 7-6 (4)
Order of Finish: #3, #5, #2*, #1, #4, #6
*Clinching Match
Records: North Carolina 19-4, ACC 9-1; Clemson 15-19, ACC 1-10
Players Mentioned
